C.G. Drews Follows Forest Hit With Scorpion Deep Release

C.G. Drews, the author whose YA horror debut Don't Let the Forest In became a New York Times bestseller, has a new novel on shelves. A Book CLB review of Scorpion Deep reports that the book was published on 27 October 2026 by Feiwel & Friends.

The release marks Drews's return to the genre that made her name in young adult fiction, with the same publisher behind her earlier horror work.

Bookishelf's listing confirms the publication date and publisher, and its book data gives the page count as 352. Screen Rant ran an exclusive excerpt and preview of the novel, noting that it was set for release everywhere on 27 October 2026.

On the premise, a Biblionerd Reflections review describes the book as being about a lonely boy who accidentally awakens an obsessive eldritch sea god. The same piece frames it as a disturbing and intoxicating siren-call, language that points to the sea-horror territory the title suggests.

The author herself has marked the occasion. In a newsletter post, Drews wrote that Scorpion Deep is officially out in the US and that it is time to "usher in the sea horrors".

She also notes there that she wrote the first draft of Scorpion Deep before she wrote the horror that preceded it.

The Book CLB piece notes that Don't Let the Forest In became a New York Times bestseller and made Drews's name in YA horror. The Biblionerd review also credits her with Hazelthorn, giving her a growing shelf of YA horror titles for the new book to join.

That matters because horror aimed at teenage readers has long been a niche where a single breakout can define an author's reputation. A follow-up is the real test of whether that reputation holds across different monsters and settings, and Scorpion Deep swaps woodland dread for the ocean.

One of Drews's own comments is worth flagging: because she drafted Scorpion Deep before the horror book that came out ahead of it, the novel may be a longer-gestating project than its publication date implies. That detail comes from her newsletter, and it is the author's own account rather than anything the publisher has stated.

Don't Let the Forest In opens the series of the same name, with a publisher description that introduces a protagonist named Andrew who has, in some sense, given away his heart. It blends psychological intensity with horror, which is the template readers will likely compare Scorpion Deep against.

Content warnings listed by one reviewer for that earlier book include body horror, blood and the death of a loved one, a reminder of how dark Drews's work can get. For LuvemBooks' verdict on the novel that started it all, want the full verdict?

Read our review of Don't Let the Forest In.